


Come rain or shine

by bluenna



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, ahhhhhh, who needs tags when everythings good in the universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-21
Updated: 2014-03-21
Packaged: 2018-01-16 12:49:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1348051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluenna/pseuds/bluenna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Harry's five, the boy from next door calls him a donkey and cackles as he runs away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come rain or shine

**Author's Note:**

> I'm supposed to be up in five hours but noooo I just had to finish this goddamn my brain is so stupid and I am terribly sorry because i just literally wrote this i didnt even read this through agghhh okay im gonna go

When Harry's five, the boy from next door calls him a donkey and cackles as he runs away.

Harry's not a donkey, though. He doesn't even look like one; Aunt Sue claims he's a beautiful angel, and the boy from next door is annoying and speaks funny.

Next time Harry sees the boy he holds his head up high and walks right past him on the playground.

\--

When Harry's six he sees some big boys bullying a smaller boy in the woods. Harry's a bit scrawny, although tall for his age, and knows he can't put up enough a fight to win, doesn't even want to fight, but he knows bullying is wrong and no one deserves it. So he stands up to the boy and the big boys laugh and push him down into a puddle and Harry's clothes get wet and dirty, but they don't bully the other boy anymore and soon leave, so he supposes it's all good.

"You didn't have to do that," the other boy says as he helps Harry up. 

Harry looks at him, realizes he knows him and wrinkles his nose.

"You called me a donkey," he says, instead of answering.

The boy laughs loudly and squints his eyes. "I reckon you do look like one a bit."

"I do not!" Harry exclaims. The other boy is rude, calling him a donkey - again - right after Harry has saved him.

"It's not bad," the other boy assures him, "everyone says I look like a hamster, and even if you look like a donkey, it's more... like a cute donkey, you know."

Harry doesn't know, says as much and the other boy shrugs.

"Fine," the boy says, "maybe you don't. Everyone also says I speak too much without thinking, so maybe this is one of those times." he extends his hand and says, "I'm Niall."

Harry takes his hand. "Harry." 

They don't become friends, but at least Harry doesn't dislike the boy anymore. Dislike is such an awful feeling.

\--

"Hello, Harry." 

Harry looks up from the desk and notices someone standing beside him. Niall, his mind supplies.

"Hello, Niall."

"Can I sit next to you? I got held back a year and I don't know anyone else from the lot of you, beside you seem nice, probably not going to tease me because I'm slow or something."

Harry gives him a nod and Niall smiles, all but falling onto the seat next to Harry's.

"I'm not slow though, don't think I am, I just couldn't figure out math like everyone else. Guess another year will help me with that. I hope so, or I might just run away and start living with wolves in the woods."

Harry blinks at him. "There are no wolves around here."

"No, I suppose not," Niall muses, "maybe a rabbit then. Although I might not fit in a rabbit hole."

Harry smiles at him. It's the first time he has smiled in Niall's presence, but it's not really that hard to smile. There something about the boy that makes you want to smile all the time. Maybe because Niall himself never seems to frown or look anything but happy.

"I think you'll do fine. If you don't I can help you with math. I'm okay at it."

Niall grins and shuffles a bit closer with his chair. "Thanks." 

\--

When Harry's thirteen, he and Niall have been best friends almost five years. It's a good thing they live next to each other, for Harry doesn't think they could be much longer apart than an hour or two. It's also a nice feeling, having someone that is your best friend, and no one else's, even though Niall is a bit of a social butterfly and likes to make acquaintance with anyone and everyone. 

They have started playing football together, and while Harry knows for sure he's absolutely the worst at it, he also knows that Niall isn't, and playing with Niall and his bubbly laughter and loud personality is absolutely worth the scowls Harry gets from their team mates. They have practice almost everyday, and after it they head either to Harry's or Niall's to eat and do homework and play video games.

It's all good, and Harry doesn't even mind when Niall calls him donkey anymore, because he knows well he doesn't look like one and Niall is a daft.

\-- 

"You coming to the game tonight?"

Niall chews on the end of his pen and eyes Harry expectantly, as if Harry would ever miss one of Niall's games. 

"Of course, I'll be at the same spot as always."

"Good. I was just wondering since, you know, the guys have been giving you some shit, and I did tell them off but-"

"Niall," Harry interrupts him, ruffles his blond hair and smiles. "'S all good."

Niall grins. "Great." He goes back to scribbling in his notebook, nothing related to Biology, Harry's sure, and Harry turns another page of his Chemistry book.

So goes another minute, before Niall grows restless again, his knee bumping against Harry's under the table and his fingers tapping against his book. 

"But hey, you... You'll tell me if they bother you again, right?"

Harry wipes a strand of curly hair off his forehead and blinks at Niall, who has yellow paint on his lips where it has fallen from the gnawed pen.

"Yeah, I... yeah."

Harry thinks he has never lied to Niall before, but then again, the relieved smile Niall flashes him makes him mostly forget about the guilt.

\--

Niall storms through the door and slams it closed once he's in Harry's room. His chest is heaving and there's no trace of laughter in his eyes, and when his eyes land on Harry he lets out an angry hiss and tears at his hair.

"You're a moron, you know that? You a fucking idiot, I don't understand what the fuck is wrong with you!"

Harry supposes he deserves that. 

"I though we were best mates, Harry, you should've told me, let me handle it or-"

Harry frowns and huffs. "Let you handle it? What exactly is there for you to handle?"

He knows it makes Niall even more angry. Niall almost never gets angry, but when he does he's mad with it and easy to provoke and sometimes, when Harry's angry too, he does just that. Just to see Niall's face twist and his hands curl into fists.

"You fuck-" he makes a shouting face and then runs right out of the room again. 

Harry doesn't think he comes back.

But he does.

"I told you- I told you to tell me if they bothered you, and you said you would, why did you lie to me, why didn't you tell me?" 

Niall's not as angry anymore, or at least not at Harry, not as much as he seems to be sad. There's a first aid kit in his hands and he throws it onto the bed next to Harry before climbing on top of the other boy and cradling his face in his hands, turning it from side to side to see the damage.

It's only now that Harry sees the blood on Niall's knuckles. "You're bleeding. Niall, why-"

"Shut up, Harry," Niall snaps. He opens the first aid kit and slowly starts to clean the bruising on Harry's cheek, careful not to press too much. "You, idiot," he whispers. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Harry averts his eyes, and waits until Niall has moved the cloth to his forehead. "I think," he starts, then takes a deep breath in, "I think I deserved it."

Niall's hand freezes and he stares at Harry for a whole minute before starting to clean his face again. When Harry looks up, his face is hard and the way his jaw is set, tells Harry his clenching his teeth together. 

There's a silence, while Harry sits, and Niall cleans his face, and when Niall sets the cloth on the bed, his job done, it all seems so final. Harry doesn't know why, but it just does, like the bruises weren't the only thing Niall was cleaning, like this was just a way to clear Harry from his life.

It hurts more than the bruises.

"Listen up, Harry," Niall says. He rests his hands on Harry's shoulders and waits until Harry looks up at him. "You didn't deserve it. You're an idiot for thinking you did. There's nothing wrong with you, and you should know that. And don't you ever think that you're not good enough to be my friend, because I don't care who you like, I don't care if you don't like anybody, I don't care if you liked a 90-year-old elder or- or- a donkey, I do not care. You're my best friend, okay? I fucking love you, do you understand?"

Harry nods slowly.

Niall nods too. "Good. Now. Promise me. Anyone ever talks shit to you again, tell me and I'll bash their heads in, okay?"

Harry smiles. It makes the bruise on his lip open and bleed again, but fuck if he cares. This time, when he tells Niall yes, he means it.

\--

When Harry's seventeen years and seven months, Niall turns eighteen and buys a shit ton of beer (his words, not Harry's). They have a party, Niall and Harry, and some people from school they're friends with, and it's very... well, Harry doesn't really remember it after the first two hours, but from the way everyone speaks of it, it must've been fucking amazing.

The next day isn't that amazing. Harry wakes up beside Niall in Niall's bed and he's having the worst hungover of his life, it isn't even funny, no matter how much Gemma laughs at him later. For once Niall doesn't seem to get any food down and he just sits in the living room, tv playing some random show, and stares into space with a suffering look on his face. Harry makes him tea and brings aspirin every once in the while when he feels like walking, and Niall manages a weak smile everytime he glances in Harry's direction.

It's fine. For death.

\--

A few months later it's Harry's turn and they go into a bar and Niall drinks Harry under the table. In the end of the night it's Niall though, who has to drag him up from there, and they manage to make it to Niall's in one piece.

It's a miracle.

\--

"Don't you think we're too old for this?"

Harry glances at Niall who's holding up the tent a few feet from him, while Harry does his tricks to keep the thing up. Camping on either of their yards is kind of a tradition; they have been doing it since Harry can remember. 

"No. When we're eighty and wrinkly we will still be doing this every summer."

Niall snorts. His eyes are covered with black Ray-Bans and there's a snapcap backwards in his head. He looks a bit ridiculous, wearing just his shorts and wiggling himself along the music coming from the radio on the porch, but then again he has always been a bit of an idiot.

"It's the weather for ice cream, don't you think?" Niall asks, lifting his face up towards the sun.

"You think it's the weather for ice cream even if it's snowing like hell," Harry points out. 

"Yeah, but today, it's like if I don't get strawberry ice cream right this second I'm gonna combust."

Harry laughs. "We'll get your ice cream once we're done with this."

Niall nods once, then starts bathing in the sun again, holding his side of the tent up while Harry finishes around him. They get ice creams from a little booth nearby and walk back via a rocky road that feels annoying under their bare feet. Harry get's ice cream in his hair, when Niall "accidentally" stumbles plants the rest of his cone on the side of Harry's head. 

Harry pays him back by pushing him into a small stream.

\--

"You want me to smash his face?" Niall asks. He sits on his bed with Harry's head on his lap and plays with the other boy's hair, while Harry sighs and cries and talks about the guy who left him for someone else.

It's one of the worst days of Harry's life, he thinks. His heart is broken, and he feels betrayed and like he's not good enough and it doesn't seem like the tears make it any easier.

"Don't say that, you're the best boyfriend anyone could even dream of. That guy was a fool, he didn't know what he gave up, you're better off without him."

"I think..." Harry says after a moment of silence, "I think I'm done for a while. With dating. I got you, so why should I bother when in the end-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Niall cuts him off. "You'll find someone someday. I know that. And that someone isn't going to like that what's-his-name-assface, but someone you deserve and goddamnit I swear to god if anyone tries to treat you like that ever again-"

"Don't be violent, Niall, restrain your impulses," Harry chuckles, happy that he at least has Niall. That fucker.

Niall laughs, bends down to kiss Harry on the forehead and ruffles his hair. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say."

\--

The thing is. 

The thing is, when Harry was fifteen he realized he probably would never find someone as perfect as Niall. 

It was frightening, finding yourself in love with your best friend who didn't even know you were gay in the first place, and might actually hate you if he found out. Of course, when Niall did find out, the only thing he did was punch a few guys in the face for judging Harry for who he was and who he loved.

The bruises in his heart healed faster than the ones on his face, though, because Niall didn't leave him. If anything, he let go a few people he thought was toxic and didn't give a fuck what anyone said about him and Harry.

It made Harry feel warm inside for a while, until he understood that he could never be anything more than Niall's best friend.

It was true.

It's still true.

But the thing is.

The thing is, Harry doesn't think he needs anyone else to love, when he still has Niall.

\--

The call wakes Harry up at two am and he almost doesn't realize it even is his phone in his sleepiness.

"'lo?" he says, once he has fumbled for the phone for a while.

"Harry... hey." 

It's Niall. He sounds breathless, like he has been running, but he seems to be smiling, by the sound of his voice.

"Why are you calling at this time. Did something happen?"

Niall laughs. "Yeah, I... I had this realization."

"Uhhuh?"

"Can you open the window?"

Harry frowns. He glances at the window and then rubs his face with his hand. "Mm. What does that have to do with anything?"

Niall snorts, then for a while doesn't say anything, but seems to be doing something alarming. There's rustling and a bang and... Is he drunk?

"I'm outside, donkey, open the damn window before I break it."

"What-" the line dies before Harry gets to finish, and he scrambles out of bed, almost falling over before getting to the window and yanking it open. He is already sticking his face outside when Niall's head pops up from where he's standing on a ladder just outside the window.

"Hey."

Harry laughs and leans against the window frame. "Hi."

Niall smiles at him, his eyes sparkling in the dim light of the streetlight, and he runs his hands through his hair before inhaling deeply. "So. Like I said, I had this realization." He licks his lips. "It's been a month since we last saw, you know. And I think I'm actually going crazy. College would be so much more fun with you, you know, we could- sorry, I'm... I'm rambling."

Harry lifts his brows, and smiles, not feeling tired anymore. An hour a day is not enough of Niall's face apparently. Especially not just via skype.

"I kinda. You know we're pretty inseparable. Have been. And I- you- I... uh. We, well." Niall frowns, a thing he only does when he's frustrated, and then props himself on the edge of the window more securely. He looks around him, then at Harry, and his face smooths out.

"I'm sorry," he says, now quietly, "if this is the wrong thing to do."

Bracing himself onto his right elbow, Niall leans forward, tangles his left hand into Harry's hair and brings their faces so close Harry can feel his breath against his cheek. Slowly, Niall's lips brush against his cheek, his jaw, and finally press against his lips into an uncertain kiss. 

It's not what Harry has imagined. He never thought his first kiss with Niall would be at two am on a Tuesday night when they were supposed to be a hundred miles away from each other, but... it's everything. Just everything.

He reaches for Niall's shirt to keep him close and tilts his head, pressing their mouths together firmly. Niall sighs contently and they seem to think alike, opening their mouths at the same time to deepen the kiss like it's supposed to.

"Okay, Niall, you need to," Harry backs away and takes a look at Niall's flushed face. A smile plasters onto his face and he chuckles. "Get in, come one, this is ridiculous, just get in."

Niall laughs and half scrambles half falls into the room.

"You're an idiot," Harry says as his arms find Niall again and tuck him closer.

"Whatever you say," Niall whispers back, but the end of it gets lost into Harry's mouth.

**Author's Note:**

> it's not the only end that gets lost in harry's mouth  
> ehhehehe  
> oh my god i need to sleep


End file.
